


If Only You'd Listen

by Mangoesaregood8



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Coughing, Depression, Friendship, Gen, Hospitals, Illness, Stubborness, dying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-18 00:30:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5891080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mangoesaregood8/pseuds/Mangoesaregood8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sebastian's been coughing and feeling unwell for almost two weeks and Joseph's been worried about him.  He finally convinces Sebastian to go to the doctor so they can find out what's wrong with him.  What Sebastian thought was a harmless cough turns out to be much worse than he could have imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Only You'd Listen

Joseph was sitting in the office, waiting for Sebastian to arrive for the day. He was twirling his pen in his fingers, not able to concentrate on the papers that were sitting in front of him. He was worried about Sebastian. The other man had a persistent cough that had been going on for the past week and a half and it was only getting worse. He was also getting short of breath much more quickly than usual, and Sebastian’s lung capacity was already pretty low because of all of the smoking that he did. Joseph tried to convince Sebastian on multiple occasions to go see a doctor and get it checked out, but Sebastian was too stubborn to listen. Joseph was worried that it might be something serious, but Sebastian brushed him off each time, telling him that he worried too much.  
Sebastian walked into the office a few minutes later with his trench slung over one of his shoulders.  
“There you are Sebastian. You’re late,” Joseph said as Sebastian sat down at his desk.  
“Sorry. Overslept again.” Sebastian hung coat up on the rack behind him before leaning back in his chair to catch his breath.  
“Maybe I ought to buy you a better alarm clock so you’ll actually hear it,” Joseph teased.  
“Maybe…” Sebastian pulled his carton of cigarettes out of his pocket and plucked one out.  
“Is now really a good time to be smoking, Seb? You can barely breathe.”  
Sebastian looked at the cigarette in his hand for a moment before setting it down in the ash tray. “Yeah… You’re right. I’ll save it for later.” He cleared his throat and opened the folder on his desk so he could start working.  
The morning was filled with Sebastian coughing and clearing his throat. Joseph grew especially concerned after a nasty coughing fit that left Sebastian winded.  
“Sebastian, you really should-“  
“I’m fine, Joseph,” Sebastian interrupted. I just need some water.”  
“If you say so…” Joseph stood up and went to the breakroom to grab Sebastian a bottle of water. He walked back to their office and handed it to his partner.   
“Thanks Joseph.” Sebastian took it and started chugging the water, barely stopping long enough to breathe.  
“You should slow down before you start choking,” Joseph said. He was still standing in front of Sebastian’s desk.  
Sebastian set the bottle down and it was more than half empty. He wiped at his mouth with his sleeve and screwed the cap back on. “I’ll be fine.”  
“Alright then. Well, it’s almost lunch time if you want to go out and grab something to eat.”  
“Sure. Lunch sounds good.” Sebastian stood up and stretched, wincing when his back cracked. “What are you in the mood for?”  
“We could always go to that sushi place down the street,” Joseph suggested.  
Sebastian shrugged. “Sure. As long as you don’t make me eat that seaweed shit.”  
Joseph shook his head. “It’s not ‘shit’. It’s actually good for you if you’d give it a chance.”  
“I’ll let you eat it. I can’t stand the stuff.” Sebastian grabbed his coat and slipped it on. “Ready to go?”  
“Yeah. Just let me grab my keys.” Joseph rummaged through his desk for a moment before holding up his keys. “There we are. Let’s go.”  
Joseph headed to the car and Sebastian followed behind him, coughing the entire way.  
“Do you want a mint or something?” Joseph asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “I know they can sometimes help with coughing.”  
“Sure.” Sebastian held his hand out and Joseph handed him a mint.  
“You know going to the doctor would help. They could give you a strong cough syrup that would fix you right up.”  
“I don’t need to go to the doctor Joseph. It just needs time to work its way through my system and I’ll be fine.”  
“This has been going on for almost two weeks Sebastian! This isn’t normal. You need to see someone.”  
Sebastian huffed and tried to stifle a cough. “If I make an appointment for the end of the week, will you leave me alone?”  
“Yes.”  
“Then I’ll make an appointment before I go home for the day.”  
“Thank you.” Joseph sighed. “Was that really that hard?”  
Sebastian didn’t respond.  
“This was almost as hard as trying to get you to go to the dentist.  
Joseph pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked in their usual spot. Once the car was off, Sebastian stepped out and started heading into the building to find them a seat. Joseph locked the car and followed after him.  
Sebastian got them a table for two near their favorite corner. They ordered their drinks and food. The waiter brought them their drinks and Sebastian sipped at his as he waited.  
“What do you think of our latest case?” Joseph asked, trying to think of a topic for conversation. He was worried about Sebastian but tried not to let it show. It would only irritate Sebastian further and he didn’t want to lose what progress they had made from earlier.  
“Nothing special. Just looked like your typical drug bust to me. Why? Did you see something?”  
Joseph shook his head. “No. Just wondering what you thought of it.”  
“Hm…” Sebastian rubbed at his chest, then started coughing again.  
“Jesus Sebastian! It sounds like you’re trying to cough up a lung.” He leaned over the table so he could rub Sebastian’s back.  
It took Sebastian a few minutes to recover. Once he could breathe again, he took a few sips of his drink and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.  
“Seb, is that blood?” Joseph’s eyes widened in horror. If Sebastian was coughing up blood…  
Sebastian looked down at his hand and quickly wiped it with his napkin. “No. It was nothing. I think you need to clean your glasses.”  
Joseph knew his glasses were already clean, but he took them off and wiped them on his vest before putting them back on.  
The waiter arrived with their food and the two detectives started eating. They stayed quiet as they ate, save for Sebastian coughing fits. They seemed to be getting worse and worse as they day went on.  
When they finished eating, Sebastian payed the bill and the men walked back to the car. Joseph drove them back to the office and they got back to work.  
Joseph was having trouble concentrating on the paperwork in front of him. He took off his glasses and set them on his desk before rubbing at his temples. The words were starting to swim off the page as he tried to focus on them and it was giving him a headache.  
“Are you alright Joseph? If you’ve got a headache, you can take a break,” Sebastian said as he looked up.  
“I’ll be fine in a few minutes. I’m going to go for a walk.” Joseph put his glasses on and stood up.  
“I’ll be here when you get back.”  
Joseph left the office and took a walk around the building. He didn’t want to go too far since he was still on the clock.   
He walked around for ten minutes before looking at a clock that was hanging up in the hallway. He knew he needed to get back to work, but he couldn’t focus in these conditions. Not when he was this worried about Sebastian. The coughing fits had only gotten worse since they had returned from lunch and nothing they were doing about them seemed to help. Joseph was sorely tempted just to drive Sebastian to the hospital right now, but he knew Sebastian would put up too much of a fight, and wouldn’t want to miss work because of a doctor’s visit. But the sound of Sebastian’s coughs weren’t reassuring Joseph that he would be okay. He needed to be seen as soon as possible. He was going to have Sebastian call and make an appointment as soon as possible when he went back.  
Joseph walked back to the office and straight to Sebastian’s desk. “Seb, you need to make an appointment now. Your coughing is only getting worse and I’m really worried about you.”  
“Joseph, I said I would make an appointment before I left for the day.”  
“Could you please just do it now?” Joseph asked. “It would give me some piece of mind.”  
Sebastian sighed. “If it’ll make you feel better, then yes.” He reached for the phone but was stopped by a coughing fit.  
“Sebastian?” Joseph rushed over to rub his back. “Sebastian!”  
There was no hiding the crimson droplets that were staining Sebastian’s shirt and dripping down the corners of his mouth.  
“You were coughing up blood earlier! Why would you lie about that? Sebastian, this is serious.” Joseph was about to pick up the phone himself to call the hospital, but stopped mid reach when Sebastian suddenly slumped over in his chair.  
“Seb?” Joseph shook him gently. “Seb, are you okay?”  
Sebastian didn’t respond.  
“Sebastian?”  
The only movement that Joseph could see was the uneven rising and falling of Sebastian chest from his ragged breathing.  
“Sebastian, wake up!” Joseph shook him roughly this time, but it did no good.  
“That’s it.” He picked up the phone, dialed the number, and waited for a response.  
“Hello?” A male voice answered.  
“Connelly? It’s Joseph. I need an ambulance transport.”  
“Alright. Tell me where you need it.”  
“The office,” Joseph responded.  
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Connelly said before hanging up.  
Joseph hung up his own phone before turning back to Sebastian to make sure he was still breathing.  
“Why couldn’t you just listen to me?” He asked Sebastian’s still form. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?” He waited impatiently for Connelly so they could take Sebastian to the hospital.


End file.
